Michael Schumann

Michael Schumann (*7.2.1971) is Chairman of the Board of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA).
Appointed to the BWA Senate in 2006, he has been a member of the BWA Board since 2013. He took over the Chairmanship of the BWA Board in April 2018.
After studying philosophy, German and American studies at the University of Bonn and the State University of New York, Schumann worked for more than 15 years in the fields of political consulting, public affairs and public relations and held leading positions in various agencies, business and media associations.
Among other things, he was an advisor to former German Prime Minister and Federal Minister Dr. Lothar de Maizière, a Board member of the German Journa-lists Association Berlin (DJV) and President of the Berlin Forum for Media, Politics and Business (MPW), as well as President of the Lions Club Berlin-Brandenburg.
In 2010, Schumann went to China for several years, where he established contacts for German corporations from Shanghai and advised Chinese political institutions, municipal decision-makers and large companies on their internatio-nalization and guided them to Germany. In this he worked closely with Prof. Roland Berger, with whom he founded a joint company.
In the following years, Schumann successfully supported the Chinese Fosun Group with its market entry and acquisitions in Germany and in the political ef-forts to obtain approval for the acquisition of a traditional German private bank (Hauck & Aufhäuser) by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. Nu-merous other German-Chinese transactions followed.
Together with Philipp Schoeller and General Capital Group, Schumann also contributed to the Chinese Geely Group’s investment in the German automotive group Daimler.
Schumann has been committed to German-Chinese friendship for many years.
He made significant contributions to the establishment of the German Chinese Alliance for Industry 4.0, the German-Chinese Industrial Cities Alliance and numerous other initiatives.
In the fall of 2019, Schumann and then Vice President of the German Bundestag and former German Interior Minister Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich founded the „China-Brücke“ in Berlin, a public diplomacy forum for German-Chinese relations that aims to strengthen China expertise in Germany and the understanding of both peoples for each other.
In January 2023 Schumann took over the Chairmanship of „China-Brücke“